Oxo-biodegradable Polyolefin Plastics for Commodity Applications

In parallel with the scientists that have focused on bio-based and hydro-biodegradable plastics technologies another group of scientists has focused on the development of additive technologies that work with ordinary polyolefin plastics in a two-step process that accelerates oxidation, enabling used plastic products to totally degrade, disintegrate and mineralize / biodegrade. The prodegradant additives control these processes in a highly predictable and controllable manner in all conditions in the environment in which you find a source of oxygen and naturally occurring microorganisms (air, soil, landfill, compost, litter). This two-step process is now commonly referred to as “oxo-biodegradation”.

Modified EcoSafe® products meet the requirements of ASTM D3826, the standard for degradable plastics and all the requirements of D6400-99 for biodegradable/compostable plastics except for the period of mineralization. EcoSafe® products modified by this ASTM D6964-04 Oxo-biodegradable technology will mineralize (convert carbon to carbon dioxide) at a slower rate similar to many plant tissues commonly found in compost and known to be biodegradable and compostable.

EcoSafe® products are produced in two formulations.

EcoSafe® biodegradable products are engineered to degrade and totally fragment in 90 to 120 days and 60% mineralize within 12 to 24 months when disposed of in a well managed commercial compost facility and subseqent soil application.

EcoDegradable® products are engineered for disposal in a landfill and under these conditions will degrade and fragment at a slower rate (12 to 18 months).

Irrespective of the disposal method, EcoSafe® products modified with proprietary additives are safe to use and leave no harmful residues after disposal.

EcoSafe® products have been extensively tested for ecotoxicity ⁴, their components are on the FDA – GRAS list, comply with FDA requirements for direct food contact ⁹ and CONEG⁸ regulations for heavy metal limitations. There are no harmful residues that accumulate in the soil. They have also undergone full-scale landfill³and commercial compost trials ^4,5. In the compost trials, after sieving, compost that contained EcoSafe® met the highest standard as fertilizer under the “Austrian Compost Quality Seal”.


Supply

Any manufacturer that currently produces and markets commodity plastic products made with polyolefin resins can choose to produce his existing product lines with a built-in definitive life cycle. Products are produced on existing equipment with little or no adjustment required. Product quality and performance are not compromised. Finished products fit within reasonable economic models.

Price & Performance

EcoSafe® biodegradable & EcoDegradable® plastic products have been developed, are commercially available and are in everyday use. For, example, EcoSafe® Biodegradable Compost Bags and Liners are well accepted as, unlike competing products, they provide the performance of ordinary plastic in use, and their slower mineralization after disposal adds to the fertility of the compost for soil application.

The EcoSafe® Solution

PSCI is committed to actively participate within a cross-industry coalition and with environmental groups and legislators to find solutions that avoid the necessity of punitive taxes and total bans on plastic bags. It is our view that the solution for plastic as a pollutant has to be dealt with it at the source when it is made and it has to be affordable within reasonable business models. With the use of additive technologies, modified polyolefin plastics are returned to the natural bio-cycle after serving their intend useful purpose thereby helping to mitigate the problem of ever increasing accumulations of bioinert plastic in our environment and water sheds.

The solution is to deal with the cause of the problem at the point it enters our environment. “Bioinert” plastics can be modified with prodegradant additives such as EcoSafe products to speed oxidization and safely return the carbon to the natural bio-cycle as a food source for microbes. This can be achieved within predictable and controllable time frames, thereby helping to mitigate the need to deal with the problems caused by accumulating plastic as litter.